Wightlink has announced it is planning to operate an hourly timetable on it’s Ryde Pier Head-Portsmouth Harbour FastCat route from Monday 4th January 2021.
The first service on weekdays will be 05:15 from Portsmouth and 05:47 from Ryde Pier. The last departure will be 20:20 from Portsmouth and 20:50 from Ryde Pier. Weekend sailings will start at 07:15 from Portsmouth. The 11:15 and 15:15 FastCat services from Portsmouth and their return journeys from Ryde will not operate, however.
One joyful commuter has told Island Echo:
“We’ve been lobbying Wightlink for weeks/months now and we couldn’t be happier”.
There will also be an increase in weekday sailings on Wightlink’s Yarmouth-Lymington route from Monday 4th January 2021, with an hourly 2-boat service starting from Lymington from 05:30 to 14:00 Monday and Friday (05:30 to 12:00 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). This timetable will include a 07:45 sailing from Yarmouth every weekday morning to assist Islanders who study on the mainland.
There are no planned changes on the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route.
Keith Greenfield, Wightlink’s Chief Executive, says:
“I am pleased to announce our plan to increase sailings on two of our routes from Monday 4 January as we look forward to increased demand in the New Year. I know that regular customers rely on us and have been frustrated as we have suspended services to lack of demand during the pandemic. We are announcing our services now from Monday 4 January to allow people to make their plans for 2021 with confidence.
Article continues below this advertisement “Our ticket acceptance arrangements with Hovertravel will continue until Sunday 31 January 2021, as previously announced. This new timetable is dependent on us not entering a third lockdown”
